m 

^    D 


British  Emergency  Legislation  During 
the  Present  War 


By  LUDWIK  EHRLICH 


(Reprinted  from  California  Law  Review  of  September,   1917) 


(3^*' 


COPYRIGHT.  1917 
By  LUDWIK  EHRLICH 


British  Emergency  Legislation  During 
the  Present  War' 


IF  THERE  were  any  need  of  proving  that  England  did  not 
provoke  or  desire  the  present  war,  no  proof  could  be  more 
conclusive  than  the  general  state  of  unpreparedness  when  the 
war  was  actually  declared.  The  number  of  measures  which  had 
to  be  taken  immediately  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  though 
large  in  itself,  is  small  as  compared  with  the  additions  which 
experience  proved  to  be  necessary  in  order  that  the  war  might 
be  prosecuted  to  a  successful  finish.  The  need  for  new  measures 
arose,  first,  as  the  government  became  aware  of  the  insufficiency 
of  the  existing  rules ;  and  secondly,  as  modern  warfare  brought 
with  it  the  necessity  of  providing  for  new  emergencies. 

Under  the  old  common  law-  there  had,  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
war,  existed  rules  which  gave  the  King,  or,  in  other  words, 
the  government,  a  certain  amount  of  power.  Here  might  be 
mentioned  the  right  to  require,  in  case  of  sudden  invasion  or  dan- 
gerous rebellion,  the  personal  services  of  every  man  capable  of  bear- 
ing arms,  the  right  to  regulate  intercourse  between  British  and  for- 
eign subjects,  to  exclude,  or  place  restrictions  upon,  aliens,  to 
restrain  subjects  from  leaving  the  country  or  to  recall  them  from 
abroad,  to  place  an  embargo  upon  shipping,  to  make  proclama- 
tions to  a  certain  extent  for  the  trial  of  civilians  by  court-martial, 
to  enter  private  land  in  order  to  erect  fortifications,  etc. 
Statutes  passed  during  the  nineteenth  century  had  also  con- 
ferred upon  the  government  compulsory  powers.  But,  at  the  out- 
break of  the  present  war,  it  proved  necessary  to  build  up  a  prac- 
tically new  system  of  emergency  legislation.  That  was  done 
first  of  all  by  statutes.^  Statutes,  however,  could  only  confer 
general  powers,  and  the  working  out  of  details  was  left  to  procla- 


1  A  lecture  delivered  at  the  University  of  California  on  April  20,  1917. 
Some  later  developments  are  referred  to  in  the  foot-notes. 

-  Cf.  Halsbury,  Laws  of  England,  vi.  p.  444,  s.  v.  Constitutional  Law. 

3  These  statutes  can  be  found  in  the  general  collections  of  British 
statutes  (the  official  collection  "Public  General  Acts,"  or  "Law  Reports :  The 
Public  General  Statutes,"  or  "Law  Journal  Reports :  The  Public  General 
Acts",  or  "Law  Times:  Statutes").  A  collection,  under  the  title  Manual  of 
Emergency  Legislation,  was  published  in  September,  1914,  with,  so  far 
as  the  writer  knows,   four  supplements    (to  August  31,   1915)  :   it   includes 


366S64 


434  CALIFORNIA  LAW  REVIEW 

mations  or  Orders  in  Council  made  by  the  King,  (corresponding  to 
the  proclamations  of  the  President  of  the  United  States),  or  even  to 
orders  of  certain  other  authorities,  such  as  departments  of  govern- 
ment, e.  g.  the  Board  of  Trade,  the  Home  Secretary,  the  Secre- 
tary for  Scotland,  or  the  "Competent  Military  Authority"  under 
the  Defence  of  the  Realm  Regulations. 

It  might  be  useful  to  discuss  the  statutes  and  other  rules 
enacted  during  the  war  under  the  following  heads:  (a)  Organiza- 
tion of  Forces,  (b)  Supplies  for  the  Forces,  (c)  Prevention  of 
Demoralization  and  Maintenance  of  Order,  (d)  Protection  of 
the  Country,  (e)  Weakening  of  the  Economic  Power  of  the 
Enemy.  (f)  Strengthening  of  the  Economic  Power  of  the 
Country. 

Of  course  only  the  most  important  and  characteristic  enact- 
ments can  be  referred  to  here  and  financial  measures  will  have  to 
be  left  out  almost  entirely. 

Organization  of  the  Forces. 
The  first  steps  to  be  taken  were  the  making  of  decrees  calling 
out  the  reserve  and  otherwise  providing  for  the  use  of  all  exist- 
ing forces  of  the  Crown.  The  original  British  army,  as  it  existed 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  proved  very  small  indeed  in  com- 
parison with  the  forces  which  have  since  been  organized  and  sent 
to  the  front.  Apart  from  the  voluntary  recruits,  it  was  found 
necessary  in  1915  to  take  stock  of  the  available  resources  of  man- 
power, in  order  to  know  both  how  many  men  were  still  available 
in  the  case  of  the  passing  of  compulsory  service  acts,  and  how 
many  men  and  women,  trained  for  any  kind  of  work  other  than 
military  work  and  willing  to  serve  the  government  in  the  present 
emergency,  could  be  had  in  case  of  necessity.  Consequently,  the 
National  Registration  Act,  enacted  on  July  15,  1915,  provided  for 
the  establishment  of  a  register  of  all  persons,  male  and  female, 
between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and  sixty-five,  except  those  already 
serving  in  the  army  or  navy.  Every  person  resident  in  Great 
Britain  (the  Act  does  not  apply  to  Ireland,  except  parts  of  Ulster) 
was  required  to  fill  up  a  form  stating  his  or  her  name,  residence, 
age,  whether  single  or  married,  the  number  of  dependents,  occupa- 


statutes,  proclamations  and  other  orders.  A  third  edition  of  the  Defence 
of  the  Realm  Manual  is  revised  to  February  28,  1917.  A  monthly  collection 
of  Defence  of  the  Realm  Acts  and  Regulations  has  also  been  published  by 
authority. 


BRITISH  EMERGENCY  LEGISLATION  435 

tion,  if  any,  and  the  employer's  business,  nationality,  whether  the 
work  done  by  the  person  in  question  was  for  or  under  a  govern- 
ment department,  whether  the  person  was  skilled  in,  and  able  and 
willing  to  perform,  any  work  other  than  the  work  at  which  he  or 
she  was  at  the  time  employed.  It  was  also  provided  that  any  change 
of  address  of  every  person  so  registered  should  be  communicated 
to  the  proper  official,  and  that  newcomers  were  to  register  within 
four  weeks.  Whether  the  National  Registration  Act  has  worked 
satisfactorily  or  not  has  been  a  somewhat  debated  question.  It 
has  certainly  supplied  the  government  with  a  large  amount  of 
important  information. 

When  there  came  need  of  an  army  greater  than  that  which 
could  be  furnished  by  voluntary  recruiting,  compulsory  military 
service  had  to  be  introduced.  The  first  Military  Service  Act, 
1916,  which  received  the  royal  assent  on  January  27,  1916,  pro- 
vided that  every  male  British  subject  who  on  August  15,  1915, 
was  ordinarily  resident  in  Great  Britain  (the  Act  did  not  apply 
to  Ireland)  and  had  attained  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  and  had 
not  attained  the  age  of  forty-one,  and  on  November  2,  1915,  was 
unmarried  or  was  a  widower  without  any  child  dependent  on 
Eim,  should,  unless  he  was  within  the  exceptions,  or  had  attained 
the  age  of  forty-one  before  the  appointed  date,  be  deemed  as 
from  the  appointed  date  to  have  been  duly  enlisted  in  the  regular 
forces  for  general  service  with  the  colors  or  in  the  reserve 
for  the  period  of  the  war,  and  to  have  been  forthwith  trans- 
ferred to  the  reserve.  The  burden  of  proof  that  the  act  did  not 
apply  to  any  individual  rested  on  him. 

There  were  established  local  tribunals,  appeal  tribunals,  and  a 
central  tribunal,  for  granting  certificates  of  exemption  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  expedient  in  the  national  interest  that  the 
applicant  should  continue  his  present  work,  or  take  up  some 
special  work,  or  continue  his  education,  or  on  the  ground  that 
serious  hardship  would  ensue  for  the  man,  owing  to  his  excep- 
tional financial  or  business  obligations  or  domestic  position,  or  on 
the  ground  of  ill  health  or  infirmity,  or  of  a  conscientious  objec- 
tion to  the  undertaking  of  combatant  service.  The  certificates 
might  be  absolute,  conditional  or  temporary;  they  might  also  be 
granted  by  government  departments  to  men  employed  by  them  or 
for  them ;  certificates  are  always  reviewable  and  revocable. 

The  first  Military  Service  Act  provoked  a  certain  amount  of 
confusion  because  the  tribunals  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 


436  CALIFORNIA  LAW  REVIEW 

undoubtedly  animated  by  very  patriotic  motives,  could  not  be 
expected  to  interpret  the  quite  new  rules  and  regulations  in  the 
same  way,  and,  consequently,  in  some  places  exemptions  would  be 
granted  under  circumstances  under  which  in  other  places  they 
had  been  refused.  The.  government  issued  a  great  number  of  sup- 
plementary rules  intended  to  simplify  proceedings  and  to  remove 
misunderstandings. 

Very  largely  under  the  pressure  of  public  opinion,  another 
Military  Service  Act,  the  Military  Service  Act,  1916  (Session  2), 
enacted  on  May  25,  1916,  extended^the  principle  of  the  first  Act 
from  British  subjects  who  had  not  been  married  at  a  certain  date 
to  all  male  British  subjects  who  at  any  time  since  August  14,  1915, 
had  been,  or  for  the  time  being  were,  ordinarily  resident  in  Great 
Britain  (the  Act  does  not  apply  to  Ireland),  and  had  attained  the 
age  of  eighteen  years  and  had  not  attained  the  age  of  forty-one, 
unless  they  were  within  the  exceptions.  It  was  also  provided 
that  the  Reserve  and  Territorial  forces  should  remain  with  the 
colors  until  the  end  of  the  war. 

In  order  to  review  the  exemptions  which  might  appear  no 
longer  justifiable,  owing  to  the  progress  of  the  war,  the  more 
pressing  need  of  men  and  the  necessity  of  reducing  the  standard  of 
requirements,  there  was  then  passed  the  Military  Service  (Review 
of  Exceptions)  Act,  1917.  It  applies  to  men  who  had  been  dis- 
charged or  rejected  or  had  been  declared  unfit  for  foreign 
service,  and,  with  certain  exceptions,  requires  such  men  to  pre- 
sent themselves  upon  summons  for  re-examination. 

The  Military  Service  Acts  apply,  of  course,  only  to  men  of 
what  is  considered  military  age.  Men  above  or  below  that  age, 
or  men  prevented  by  slight  physical  defects  or  by  the  nature  of 
their  employment  at  home  from  joining  the  army  and  going  to  the 
front,  have  practically  since  the  beginning  of  the  war  been  keen 
on  helping  in  the  release  of  troops  for  service  at  the  front  and  also 
on  helping  in  the  organization  of  defense  troops  for  the  very  remote, 
but  not  quite  impossible,  event  of  invasion  by  the  enemy.  The 
volunteer  corps  had  already  proved  efficient  organizations  when 
-the  Volunteer  Act,  1916  (enacted  on  December  22,  1916)  pro- 
vided that  agreements  entered  into  by  members  of  volunteer  corps 
to  attend  drills  or  undergo  training  or  undertake  military  duties 
should  be  enforced  by  military  courts  and  that  such  members 
during  the  training,  drill,  or  performance  of  the  military  duties 
should  be  subject  to  military  law.    This  Act  is  intended  to  organize 


BRITISH  EMERGENCY  LEGISLATION  437 

the  volunteers  on  a  military  basis,  give  them  ofificial  recognition 
and  enable  the  government  to  count  upon  their  assistance  in  cases 
of  need. 

The  creation  of  an  enormous  new  army  made  very  acute  the 
problems  of  separation  allowances  for  the  wives  and  children  of 
soldiers,  whether  volunteers  or  conscripts,  of  pensions  for  the 
dependents  of  men  killed  or  permanently  disabled  in  the  war,  and 
of  pensions  for  disabled  men  themselves.  Separation  allowances 
have  been  paid  very  liberally.  The  underlying  principle  was  that 
the  government  would  pay  wives  and  children  of  the  soldiers 
several  times  the  sum  which  the  soldier  himself  was  to  give  out  of 
his  pay.  The  rules  as  to  separation  allowances  and  pensions  have 
been  changed  several  times,  and  in  addition  there  was  passed  in 
the  course  of  1915  the  Naval  and  Military  War  Pensions,  etc., 
Act,  1915.  Under  that  act  a  committee  was  formed,  called  the 
Statutory  Committee  of  the  Royal  Patriotic  Fund  Corporation. 
Subordinated  to  that  Committee  were  local  committees.  The 
object  of  the  committees  was  to  decide  questions  of  fact  as  to  war 
pensions,  and  to  make  supplementary  grants  where  grants  out  of 
public  funds  would  prove  inadequate.  Such  grants  were  to 
include  the  supplementing  of  pensions,  separation  allowances  and 
other  government  grants.  The  committees  were  also  to  make 
grants  or  separation  allowances  where  no  grants  or  separation 
allowances  from  the  government  were  payable  at  all,  and  out  of 
their  funds  they  were  to  make  advances  on  pensions,  grants,  or 
separation  allowances  due  at  a  later  date  from  the  government. 
The  committees  were  to  make  provisions  for  disabled  officers  and 
men  after  they  had  left  the  service,  including  provisions  for  their 
health,  training  and  employment.  The  local  committees  were  to 
help  the  central  committee  and  to  exercise  a  certain  amount  of 
discretion  in  distributing  funds.  An  important  function  seems  to 
have  been  to  collect  funds  from  the  public  in  order  to  strengthen 
the  financial  power  of  the  Committee.  In  the  course  of  1916  a 
special  ministry,  the  Ministry  of  Pensions,  was  created  in  order 
to  regulate  on  a  uniform  basis  the  payment  of  pensions,  etc.* 

The  Courts  (Emergency  Powers)  (Amendment)  Act,  1916, 
enacted  on  May  17,  1916,  was  meant  to  protect  the  financial  affairs 


*  The  Statutory  Committee,  which  was  for  a  time  subordinated  to  the 
Ministry  of   Pensions,   has   now  ceased   to   exist. 


438  CALIFORNIA  LAW  REVIEW 

of  officers  and  men  of  the  British  forces.  It  was  realized  that, 
while  they  were  fighting,  it  was  not  fair  to  let  their  debts  be 
collected  without  regard  to  the  fact  that  such  collection  might 
result  in  the  ruin  of  the  officers  and  men  and  their  families.  Under 
the  Act  no  execution  or  other  enforcement  of  judgment  can  be 
had  against  an  officer  or  man  of  the  British  forces  for  a  sum  of 
money  due  and  payable  in  pursuance  of  a  contract,  whether  made 
before  or  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  except  by  special  per- 
mission of  a  competent  court,  which  has  absolute  discretion,  after 
considering  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  and  the  position  of 
the  parties,  to  stay  the  execution.  No  distress  may  be  levied,  no 
right  of  re-entry,  foreclosure,  no  other  means  of  enforcing  pay- 
ment or  recovery  may  be  used  against  an  officer  or  man  without  a 
similar  application  to  a  competent  court  which  has  the  same  dis- 
cretion. Likewise  a  bankruptcy  petition  can  be  proceeded  upon 
only  upon  an  application  which  is  again  decided  upon  by  the 
court  according  to   its  absolute   discretion.^ 

On  the  other  hand,  any  officer  or  man  who  is  tenant  of  any 
premises  under  a  tenancy  from  year  to  year,  or  for  any  longer 
period,  may  apply  to  the  proper  court  for  leave  to  determine  the 
tenancy  and  the  court  may,  in  its  absolute  discretion,  after  con- 
sidering all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  and  the  position  of  all 
the  parties,  by  order  authorize  the  applicant  to  determine  the 
tenancy  by  such  notice  and  upon  such  conditions  as  the  court 
thinks  fit. 

Supplies  for  the  Forces. 

One  of  the  first  steps  taken  by  the  government  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  (August  4,  1914),  was  the  assumption  of  control  over 
all  the  railroads  of  Great  Britain.  That  step  was  obviously  neces- 
sary, and  because  of  strikes  and  other  difficulties,  it  had  to  be 
followed  by  the  taking  over  of  coal  mines  two  years  later,  in 
November,  1916.  In  December,  1916,  shipping  was  placed  under 
a  new  minister,  the  Shipping  GDntroller,  who  has  the  function  of 
monopolizing  the  control  of  shipping. 

The  organization  of  the  huge  armies  rested   for  the  first  two 


•^  This  part  of  the  Act  corresponds  with  the  Courts  (Emergency 
Powers)  Act,  1914,  which  is  mentioned  below.  But  in  the  case  of 
officers  and  men  of  the  forces  the  unfavorable  position  need  not  have 
arisen  by  reason  of  circumstances  attributable  directly  or  indirectly  to  the 
present  war.  The  following  part,  which  deals  with  determination  of 
tenancy,  has  no  application  at  all  in  the  case  of  civilian  tenants. 


BRITISH  EMERGENCY  LEGISLATION  439 

years  in  the  hands  of  Lord  Kitchener,  but  it  was  found  early  in  the 
war  that  the  supply  of  munitions  had  to  be  much  greater  than  was 
originally  anticipated,  and  consequently  it  was  considered  neces- 
sary to  establish  a  special  Ministry  of  Munitions,  at  the  head  of 
which  stood  for  a  time  the  greatest  organizing  genius  of  con- 
temporary Britain,  Mr.  Lloyd  George.  The  Ministry  of  Munitions 
was  created  by  an  act  dated  June  9,  1915.  Its  existence  is  to 
cease,  at  the  latest,  twelve  months  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
present  war.  Very  soon  after  the  creation  of  the  Ministry,  an 
act  called  the  Munitions  of  War  Act,  1915,  was  passed  in  order 
to  facilitate  more  efficient  organization  of  the  munition  supply. 
Under  that  act  it  was  provided  that  no  lock-out  or  strike  could 
take  place  as  a  result  of  disputes  as  to  wages,  hours  of  work,  or 
otherwise  as  to  terms  or  conditions  of,  or  affecting,  employment  on 
the  manufacture  or  repair  of  arms,  munitions,  ships,  vehicles,  air- 
craft or  other  articles  required  for  use  in  war,  or  of  metals, 
machines  or  tools  required  for  that  manufacture,  or  on  any  other 
work,  if  the  King  by  proclamation  had  made  the  Act  applicable 
because  in  the  King's  opinion  the  dispute  was  directly  or  indi- 
rectly prejudicial  to  the  manufacture,  transport  or  supply  of  muni- 
tions of  war.  It  was  provided  that  such  disputes  were  to  be 
reported  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  which  might  refer  them  to  an 
arbitrator  or  court  of  arbitrators  agreed  upon  by  the  parties  or 
fixed  by  the  Board  of  Trade,  or  both.  Strikes  or  lock-outs  would 
become  lawful  only  if  such  dispute  were  not  so  referred  for  settle- 
ment within  twenty-one  days  after  having  been  reported  to  the 
Board  of  Trade. 

By  the  same  Act  the  Minister  of  Munitions  was  authorized  to 
declare  that  an  establishment  in  which  munitions  were  manufac- 
tured was  a  "controlled  establishment,"  and  in  such  cases  he  was 
authorized  to  limit  the  profits,  suspend  rules  as  to  limitations  of 
output,  and  make  other  regulations ;  the  owner  of  the  establish- 
ment would  be  deemed  to  have  consented  to  the  restricting  rules 
set  out  in  the  Act.  By  "munitions"  are  meant  practically  all 
articles  necessary  for  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war. 

Munitions  tribunals  were  established,  composed  of  chairmen 
appointed  by  the  Minister  of  Munitions  and  of  men  chosen  by  the 
Minister  from  panels  representing  in  equal  numbers  the  employers 
and  employees.  The  tribunals  were  put  in  charge  of  "all  ofiFences 
and  matters"  under  the  Act. 

Under  the  emergency  legislation  the  Government  has  come  to 


440  CALIFORNIA  LAW  REVIEW 

be,  directly  or  indirectly,  an  employer  of  labor  on  an  unprece- 
dented scale.  Both  workmen  and  employers  have  been  put  under 
much  restraint.  The  Trade  Unions  have  indeed  agreed  volun- 
tarily to  have  many  of  their  rules  suspended,  but  on  the  other 
hand  it  was  realized  that  the  new  conditions,  the  entry  into  the 
factories  of  vast  hosts  of  untrained  and  unorganized  workmen, 
necessitated  state  rules  under  which  the  health  and  the  general 
position  of  the  workmen  could  be  cared  for  properly.  Many 
measures  have  had  to  be  taken  to  insure  that  the  workmen  will 
be  properly  paid,  properly  fed,  and  otherwise  cared  for.  Examples 
of  such  measures  will  be  found,  among  others,  in  the  Police,  Fac- 
tories, etc.  (Miscellaneous  Provisions)  Act,  1916,  which  enables 
the  Home  Secretary  to  make  far-reaching  rules  as  to  most  of  these 
subjects  and  which  makes  the  application  of  such  rules  sometimes 
dependent  upon  a  request  of  the  workers  themselves  or  of  a  pro- 
portion or  number  of  them. 

The  increasing  size  of  the  army,  the  heavy  casualties  calling 
for  new  men  to  fill  the  gaps,  the  munition  works  established  on  an 
unprecedented  scale,  the  necessity  of  building  up  British  agri- 
culture to  provide  an  increased  food  supply,  not  only  because  of 
the  submarine  danger,  but  also  because  the  existing  tonnage  is 
needed  for  transportation  of  troops  and  munitions,  all  this 
resulted  in  a  necessity  for  the  government  to  use  all  available 
hands.  Everybody  could  help — men  and  women,  old  and  young. 
Many  women,  and  many  men  above  military  age  or  unfit  for 
military  service,  ofifered  their  services  to  the  government;  the 
question  was,  how  to  use  their  hands  or  their  brains  in  the  best 
way.  "For  the  purpose  of  making  the  best  use  of  all  persons, 
whether  men  or  women,  able  to  work  in  any  industry,  occupation, 
or  service,"  the  Ministry  of  National  Service  was  created  by  the 
Ministry  of  National  Service  Act,  1917.  The  Act  provided,  how- 
ever, that  no  Order  in  Council  or  regulation  should  authorize  the 
compulsory  employment  or  transfer  of  any  person  in  or  to  any 
industry,  occupation,  or  service,  or  should  impose  any  penalty  for 
any  breach  of  a  voluntary  agreement  made  by  any  person  with 
the  Minister  of  National  Service,  whose  official  title  is  Director- 
General  of  National   Service.® 


6  The  Billeting  of  Civilians  Act,  1917,  (enacted  on  May  24,  1917) 
is  an  interesting  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  workers  far  away 
from  the  battlefield  have  to  be  taken  care  of  in  the  interest  of  modern 
warfare.      A    Central    Billeting    Board    (on    which   at    least    two    seats    are 


BRITISH  EMERGENCY  LEGISLATION  441 

Maintenance  of  Order  and  Prevention  of  Demoralization. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  strain  of  the  war  must  have  resulted  in 
many  difficulties,  so  far  as  the  work  of  the  courts  of  law,  among 
other  things,  was  concerned.  One  of  the  chief  complaints  has  been 
that,  while  every  hand  was  needed  for  war  service,  many  citizens 
had  to  spend  their  time  on  juries,  the  work  of  which  could  be 
accomplished  by  fewer  men.  Without  changing  the  general  rule 
as  to  petty  juries,^  the  Grand  Juries  (Suspension)  Act,  1917, 
directs  that  no  grand  juries  shall  henceforth  be  summoned,  but 
that  where  a  person  has  been  committed  for  trial  or  where  the 
consent  or  direction  in  writing  of  a  judge  of  the  High  Court  of 
Justice  or  of  the  Attorney-General  or  Solicitor-General  for  the  pre- 
sentment of  an  indictment  has  been  given,  an  indictment  may  be 
presented  without  having  been  found  by  a  grand  jury.  This  act 
does  not  extend  to  Scotland  or  Ireland,  and  is  to  remain  in  force 
only  during  the  continuance  of  the  present  war  and  six  months 
after  the  termination  of  the  war.* 

It  was  found  necessary  to  provide  a  larger  number  of  con- 
stables to  supervise  certain  buildings  of  public  importance,  and, 
apart  from  that,  many  policemen  had  volunteered  for  service 
with  the  colors  and  had  to  be  replaced.  Under  the  Statute  of 
1831,  special  constables  (civilians  who  offered  their  services  for 
police  work  during  certain  hours  of  the  day  or  night)   were  used 


reserved  for  women)  is  to  take  charge  of  the  question  of  billeting  civilians, 
wherever  any  Government  department  certify  that  the  carrying  on 
of  any  work  is  of  national  importance  for  the  purposes  of  the  present 
Avar  and  necessitates  the  provision  of  accommodation  in  any  locality  for 
persons  employed  on  that  work  (which  may  be  munitions  work  or 
any  other  kind  of  work).  The  Act  prescribes  in  detail  how  the  Board 
shall  form  local  committees  and  make  regulations  for  them,  it  makes 
it  compulsory  for  the  occupier  of  any  premises  within  a  locality  where 
the  Act  is  in  operation  to  give  to  the  local  committee  any  information 
reasonably  required  of  him,  to  provide  (if  required  to  do  so  under 
the  Act)  billets,  attendance,  and  meals  or  food  for  the  persons  bil- 
leted; the  Act  also  lays  down  rules  as  to  the  settlement  of  disputes, 
as  to  the  behavior  of  persons  billeted,  and  as  to  compensation  and 
other  payments  due  to  the  occupier  of  the  premises.  The  Act,  fur- 
thermore, contains  rules  as  to  cases  in  which  billeting  can  not  take 
place  without  the  consent  of  the  occupier  of  the  premises.  The  Act 
does  not  extend  to  Ireland. 

^  As  to  the  possibility  of  trying  persons  by  court-martial  for  alleged 
offences  against  the  Defence  of  the  Realm  Acts  and  Regulations,  see 
below. 

8  The  Coroners  (Emergency  Provisions)  Act,  1917,  placed  on  the 
Statute  Book  in  May,  1917,  likewise  as  a  temporary  measure,  lowers  the 
number  of  persons  who  are  summoned  to  serve  as  jurors  at  a  coroner's 
inquest,  from  between  twelve  and  twenty-three  to  between  seven  and  eleven. 


442  CALIFORNIA  LAW  REVIEW 

to  fill  the  need  of  policemen.  Men  above  military  age  or  men 
otherwise  prevented  from  serving  with  the  colors  offered  their 
services  in  large  numbers;  the  Special  Constables  Act,  1914, 
together  with  Orders  in  Council  based  on  it  and  relating  to  special 
constables,  organized  this  force  which  appears  to  have  worked 
very  satisfactorily. 

One  of  the  great  difficulties  which  the  government  had  to 
face  since  the  early  stages  of  the  war  was  the  question  of  liquor 
traffic.  Wives  of  soldiers,  especially  of  those  coming  from  the 
poorest  classes  of  society,  found  themselves  in  regular  receipt  of 
sums  of  money  larger  than  had  ever  been  earned  by  their  hus- 
bands in  peace  time.  It  was  found  that  they,  and  also  the 
munition  workers,  who  are  paid  very  liberally,  would  sometimes 
spend  their  pay,  at  least  in  part,  on  liquor,  with  the  result  not 
only  that  their  pay  was  wasted,  but  that  their  working  ability 
was  weakened.  Under  the  Defence  of  the  Realm  (Amendment 
No.  3)  Act,  1915,  Orders  in  Council  were  made  establishing  the 
Central  Control  Board  (Liquor  Traffic).  The  Board  w^as 
invested  with  the  power  of  closing  licensed  premises  and  clubs, 
of  regulating  the  hours  during  which  such  premises  or  clubs  might 
be  open  at  all,  or  might  be  open  for  the  sale  or  supply  of  intoxi- 
cants, of  prohibiting  such  sale  or  supply  on  any  premises  or  in 
clubs,  of  imposing  restrictions  or  conditions,  and  generally  of 
regulating  the  introduction  and  transport  of  intoxicants.  The 
Board  was  also  authorized  to  monopolize  the  sale  and  supply  of 
intoxicants,  to  establish  refreshment  rooms,  to  acquire  premises 
by  compulsion.  The  Board  issued  regulations  for  each  of  twelve 
specified  areas,  and  each  contravention  of  the  regulations  was  to 
be  punished  with  imprisonment  with  or  without  hard  labor  for  six 
months,  and  (or)  a  fine  of  one  hundred  pounds. 

Steps  have  been  taken  to  prevent  the  disorganization  which 
usually  results  from  political  struggles.  With  millions  of 
voters  fighting  "somewhere  in  France,"  with  the  local  party 
organizations  either  asleep  or  hardly  able  to  undertake  political 
fights  without  diverting  attention  from  some  important  war  work, 
parliamentary  elections  so  far  as  possible,  and  even  local  elections, 
have  had  to  be  postponed.  The  revision  of  the  parliamentary 
register  was  at  first  postponed,  and  afterwards,  in  1916,  not, 
indeed,  ordered,  but  allowed.  The  life  of  Parliament  has  been 
repeatedly  prolonged  (each  time  for  seven  or  eight  months),  by 
statutes  without  which  the  present  Parliament  would  have  termi- 


V 


BRITISH  EMERGENCY  LEGISLATION  443 

nated  some  fifteen  months  ago,®  and  which  have  provided  similarly 
for  the  postponement  of  local  elections  (Elections  and  Registration 
Act,  1915;  Parliament  and  Registration  Act,  1916;  Parliament 
and  Local  Elections  Act,  1916).^° 

During  the  war  numerous  changes  have  occurred  in  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  government,  many  ministers  having  either  resigned 
or  changed  departments.  As  nearly  all  ministers  who  are  mem- 
bers of  the  House  of  Commons,  as  soon  as  they  accept  a  new 
office  of  profit  under  the  Crown,  automatically  lose  their  seats, 
several  acts  were  passed  (Re-election  of  Ministers  Act,  1915; 
Re-election  of  Ministers  Act,  1916;  Re-election  of  Ministers 
(No.  2)  Act,  1916),  temporarily  suspending  the  operation  of 
this  rule,  so  as  to  enable  the  ministers  to  retain  their  seats  and 
avoid  the  necessity  of  a  by-election. 

The  British  public  has  been  very  generous  whenever  appeals 
were  made  to  it  to  contribute  funds  or  gifts  in  kind,  either  for 
British  or  for  Allied  charitable  purposes.  As  it  appeared  that 
the  generosity  of  the  public  was  sometimes  taken  advantage  of  by 
impostors,  the  War  Charities  Act,  1916,  laid  down  rules  as  to 
the  registration  of  war  charities  and  their  supervision. 

Protection  of  the  Country. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  a  statute  called  Aliens  Restriction 
Act,  1914,  authorized  the  King  to  make  regulations  by  Order 
in  Council  for  restricting  the  landing,  embarkation,  or  residence 
of  aliens  in  certain  areas,  or  the  movements  generally  of  all 
aliens  or  classes  of  aliens,  for  registration  of  aliens  and  for  other 
measures  necessary  for  the  exercise  of  what  might  be  called 
aliens'  police.  Under  that  act  Orders  in  Council  were  first  made 
requiring  the  registration  of  all  alien  enemies,  that  is,  subjects  of 
enemy  states.  Alien  enemies  were  forbidden  to  travel  beyond  five 
miles  from  their  registered  address  without  permit.  They  were 
required  to  notify  the  police  whenever  they  were  about  to  change 
their  address.  Later  the  duty  of  registration  was  extended  to  all 
persons,  whether  aliens  or  not,  coming  to  boarding-houses,  lodging 
houses,  hotels  and  inns  of  any  description,  but  such  registration, 
apart  from  the  case  of  alien  enemies  who  had  also  to  register  with 
the  police,  meant  only  the  duty  of  filling  up  certain  forms  which 


9  This  was  in  April,   1917. 

10  Cp.  Parliament  and  Local  Elections  Act,  1917. 


444  CALIFORNIA  LAW  REVIEW 

were  to  be  kept  by  the  landlord.  The  duty  of  registration  with 
the  police  was  extended,  by  request  of  the  Belgian  government,  to 
Belgian  refugees,  in  order  to  prevent  abuses  of  English  hos- 
pitality by  enemy  agents.  Finally,  rules  were  made  requiring  all 
aliens  to  register  with  the  police  of  the  district  in  which  they 
resided  (apart  from  registering  at  the  boarding-houses,  hotels, 
etc.),  and  to  carry  identity  books  issued  by  the  police,  containing 
a  photograph  and  personal  description  of  the  alien,  and  statements 
as  to  nationality  of  his  wife  and  parents,  as  to  any  near  relations 
serving  with  or  against  the  allies,  and  other  details. 

From  the  very  first,  there  was  specified  a  number  of  "pro- 
hibited areas,"  in  which  no  aliens  could  reside  without  registering 
with  the  police,  while  alien  enemies  could  reside  there  only  by 
special  permission  of  the  local  police,  granted  in  exceptional  cases. 
Alien  enemies  were  forbidden  to  have  in  their  possession  firearms, 
or  other  weapons,  ammunition,  explosives,  petroleum  and  other 
inflammable  liquids  in  quantities  exceeding  three  gallons,  any 
signalling  apparatus,  motor  cars,  motor-cycles,  motor-boats,  yachts, 
air-craft,  telephones,  cameras,  military  or  naval  maps  or  hand- 
books, and  cipher  codes.  Restrictions  were  placed  on  the  circula- 
tion among  alien  enemies  of  newspapers  in  enemy  language,  and 
also  on  the  carrying  on  of  any  banking  business  by  alien  enemies. 

It  was  the  policy  of  the  government  at  first  not  to  intern  alien 
enemies  excepting  when  they  were  either  actually  suspected,  or 
destitute.  Later  on,  about  the  middle  of  1915,  general  internment 
was  decided  upon.  Internment  was  to  extend  only  to  males  of 
military  age;  all  other  alien  enemies  of  both  sexes  were  to  be 
deported.  But  Advisory  Committees,  presided  over  by  judges  of 
the  High  Court,  were  appointed  to  make  recommendations  to  the 
Home  Secretary  upon  applications  for  exemption.  The  policy 
of  the  Advisory  Committees  has  been  to  grant  exemptions  to 
people  who  could  prove  that  their  remaining  at  liberty  in  the 
country  was  in  the  public  interest,  for  instance,  because  of  the 
character  of  the  work  in  which  they  were  engaged,  or  else 
because  they  were  proved  to  be  heartily  in  favor  of  the  Allies. 
The  Committees  also  usually  recommended  for  exemption  men 
who  were  supporting  British-bom  wives  and  large  families  and 
who  could  establish  their  claims  to  be  perfectly  harmless.  But, 
above  all  other  exemptions,  it  has  been  the  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment to  grant  exemptions  to  men  who,  while  technically  the  sub- 
jects  of   the    enemy,    were,    by    reason    of    their   nationality,    con- 


BRITISH  EMERGENCY  LEGISLATION  445 

sidered  friendly  and  not  enemy  aliens.  To  this  category  belong 
the  Bohemians,  Slovenes,  Serbs  and  Croats  who  are  technically 
subjects  of  Austria  or  Hungary,  Poles  who  are  technically  sub- 
jects of  Austria  or  Germany,  Alsatians,  Danes  from  Schleswig, 
and  subjects  of  Turkey  such  as  Armenians  and  Greeks.  In  most 
of  these  cases  the  government  favored  the  establishment  of  com- 
mittees, e.  g.,  the  Polish  Information  Committee  and  the  Southern 
Slav  Committee,  which  were  to  report  to  the  Advisory  Committee 
whether  the  claim  of  any  applicant  to  be  a  member  of  the  given 
nation  was  justified  or  not.  Thousands  of  exemptions  were 
granted  on  the  ground  of  such  reports. 

Another  important  group  of  acts  is  the  Defence  of  the 
Realm  Acts.  The  rules  enacted  in  the  early  part  of  the  war 
were  consolidated  in  the  Defence  of  the  Realm  Consolidation 
Act,  1914,  under  which  the  King  in  council  was  empowered  to 
make  regulations  during  the  present  war  for  securing  the  public 
safety  and  the  defence  of  the  realm.  He  was  at  first  empowered  to 
authorize  by  such  regulations  the  trial  by  court-martial,  or 
in  the  case  of  minor  oflfenses,  by  courts  of  summary  jurisdiction, 
of  persons  committing  offences  against  the  Defence  of  the  Realm 
Regulations.  The  trial  by  court-martial  was  to  proceed  as  if  the 
defendant  were  a  person  subject  to  military  law  and  had,  on 
active  service,  committed  a  military  offence.  The  death  penalty 
was  threatened  when  it  would  be  proved  that  the  offence  had  been 
committed  with  the  intention  of  assisting  the  enemy.  The  pro- 
vision as  to  the  trial  of  British  civilians  by  court-martial  aroused 
opposition  in  the  House  of  Lords,  especially  on  the  part  of  a 
prominent  judge,  Lord  Parmoor.  Finally,  the  government  intro- 
duced a  bill  which  was  passed  as  the  Defence  of  the  Realm 
(Amendment)  Act,  1915.  By  that  Act,  British  subjects  who 
were  civilians  were  given  the  right  to  claim  a  trial  by  civil  court 
with  a  jury.  The  courts  were  given  the  power  of  excluding  the 
public  from  any  part  of  the  hearing  whenever  that  was  asked  for  by 
the  prosecution  in  the  interests  of  national  safety.  In  the  event  of 
invasion  or  other  special  military  emergency  arising  out  of  the  pres- 
ent war,  the  King  was  empowered  to  suspend  by  proclamation  the 
right  of  civilians  to  demand  a  civil  court  with  a  jury,  either  gen- 
erally or  in  any  specific  area.  The  Defence  of  the  Realm  Acts  also 
authorized  the  Admiralty  and  War  Council  to  require  that  there 
should  be  placed  at  their  disposal  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  out- 
put of  any  factory  or  workshop  in  which  arms,  ammunition  or  war- 


446  CALIFORNIA  LAW  REVIEW 

like  stores  or  equipment,  or  any  articles  required  for  the  production 
thereof,  were  manufactured.  The  Admiratly  and  War  Council 
were  even  authorized  to  take  possession  of,  and  use  for  naval  or 
military  service,  any  such  factory  or  workshop,  or  any  plant  thereof. 

Under  the  Defence  of  the  Realm  Acts,  regulations  have  been 
issued,  the  main  body  of  which  is  represented  by  the  Defence  of 
the  Realm  (Consolidation)  Regulations,  1914.  The  underlying 
principle  was  that  the  ordinary  avocations  of  life  and  the  enjoy- 
ment of  property  would  be  interfered  with  as  little  as  might  be 
permitted  by  the  exigencies  of  the  measures  required  to  be  taken 
for  securing  the  public  safety  and  the  defence  of  the  realm. 
Ordinary  civil  cases  were  to  be  dealt  with  by  the  civil  tribunals 
in  the  ordinary  course  of  law. 

Competent  naval  or  military  authorities  were  authorized,  for 
securing  the  public  safety  or  the  defence  of  the  realm,  to  take 
possession  of  movable  or  immovable  property  of  any  description, 
to  use  land  for  training,  to  stop  up  roads,  to  require  the  removal 
of  movables  from  any  area,  to  take  possession  of,  or  requisition  the 
output,  of  factories  manufacturing  arms,  munitions,  etc.,  to  require 
the  extinguishment  of  lights,  to  require  inhabitants  to  remain 
indoors  and  to  remove  suspects  from  specified  areas.  It  was  for- 
bidden without  lawful  authority  to  collect,  record,  publish 
or  communicate,  or  attempt  to  elicit,  any  information  with 
respect  to  the  movement,  numbers,  description,  condition,  or  dis- 
position of  any  of  the  British  or  allied  forces,  ships,  or  war 
materials,  or  with  respect  to  the  plans  or  conduct  or  supposed 
plans  or  conduct  of  any  naval  or  military  operations  by  such 
forces  or  ships,  or  with  respect  to  any  works  or  measures  under- 
taken for  or  connected  with  or  intended  for  the  fortification  or 
defence  of  any  place,  or  any  other  information  intended  to  be 
communicated  to  the  enemy,  or  of  such  a  nature  as  was  calcu- 
lated to  be,  or  might  be,  directly  or  indirectly  useful  to  the  enemy. 
It  was  prohibited  to  have  in  one's  possession,  or  to  carry,  or  to 
liberate  any  carrier  or  homing  pigeons,  to  possess  a  wireless  tele- 
graphic apparatus,  or  to  buy,  or  sell,  or  control  one,  or  to  trans- 
mit otherwise  than  through  the  post,  or  receive  or  to  have  in  one's 
possession  for  such  transmission  or  conveyance,  any  letter  or 
written  message  to  or  from  the  United  Kingdom.  It  was  prohibited 
without  lawful  authority,  to  be  in  possession  of  any  searchlight, 
semaphore   or  other   apparatus   intended    for   signalling,    whether 


BRITISH  EMERGENCY  LEGISLATION  447 

visual  or  otherwise,  or  to  display,  erect,  or  use  any  signal,  or  dis- 
play lights,  or  use  fireworks  which  might  serve  as  a  signal,  guide, 
or  landmark.  It  was  likewise  prohibited  to  spread  false  reports, 
or  make  false  statements,  or  spread  any  reports  or  make  any  state- 
m.ents,  whether  by  word  or  mouth,  or  in  writing  or  in  any  news- 
paper, periodical,  book,  circular  or  other  printed  publications, 
likely  to  cause  disaffection  to  the  King,  or  to  interfere  with  the 
success  of  the  forces  by  land  or  by  sea,  or  to  prejudice  the  King's 
relations  with  foreign  powers,  or  to  spread  reports  or  make  state- 
ments likely  to  prejudice  the  recruiting,  training,  discipline,  or  admin- 
istration of  any  of  the  forces.  Other  rules  relate  to  the  possession 
or  carrying  of  arms,  inflammable  articles,  injury  to  railroads  or 
military  works,  etc.  Provision  was  likewise  made  against  supply- 
ing intoxicants,  including  sedatives,  narcotics  or  stimulants,  to 
members  of  armed  forces  for  the  purpose  of  eliciting  information 
to  be  communicated  to  the  enemy  or  for  any  purpose  calculated 
to  assist  the  enemy,  or  with  the  intent  of  making  members  of  the 
armed  forces  drunk,  or  less  capable  of  the  efficient  discharge  of 
their  duties. 

Further  regulations  (e.  g.  June  10,  1915;  July  6,  1915; 
July  28,  1915)  gave  the  Home  Secretary  and  the  Secretary 
for  Scotland  powers  for  regulating  lighting.  On  the  recommenda- 
tion of  a  competent  naval  or  military  authority,  or  an  advisory 
committee,  the  Secretary  was  empowered  to  intern,  or  prohibit  to 
leave  an  area,  or  to  enter  an  area,  or  otherwise  to  subject  to 
restrictions,  any  person  (whether  British  subject  or  otherwise)  in 
view  of  his  hostile  origin  or  associations,  whenever  it  might  be 
expedient  for  securing  the  public  safety  or  the  defence  of  the 
realm.  Penalties  were  imposed  upon  people  who  had  been  in  com- 
munication, or  had  attempted  to  communicate,  with  a  spy,  unless 
it  were  proved  that  they  did  not  know  and  had  no  reason  to  know 
that  such  person  was  a  spy.  Penalties  were  also  imposed  upon 
people  wearing,  without  authority,  naval,  military,  police,  or  other 
official,  uniforms,  decorations,  medals,  or  badges,  or  any  of  them 
so  nearly  resembling  the  official  ones  as  to  be  calculated  to  deceive, 
on  persons  supplying  such  uniforms,  decorations,  medals,  badges, 
or  representing  themselves  to  be  authorized  to  wear  them,  as  well 
as  on  persons  tampering  with  passports,  certificates,  etc.  New 
regulations  are  constantly  being  issued  as  need  arises.  Their  con- 
travention is  a  contravention  of  the  Defence  of  the  Realm  Acts. 


448  CALIFORNIA  LAW  REVIEW 

Weakening  of  the  Economic  Power  of  the  Enemy. 
The  rules  as  to  naval  prizes  under  international  law  made  it 
necessary  to  establish,  at  an  early  stage  of  the  war,  prize  courts 
according  to  statutes  which  had  been  previously  in  existence.  The 
work  of  the  prize  courts  has  also  been  regulated  by  statutes  and 
ordinances  during  the  war.  The  institution  of  naval  prizes  tends, 
of  course,  to  weaken  the  economic  power  of  the  enemy.  But  the 
most  important  rule  under  the  common  law  has  been  the  rule  pro- 
hibiting trading  with  the  enemy, — in  other  words,  prohibiting  any 
commercial  intercourse,  not  as  in  former  ages  with  subjects  of  an 
enemy  state  or  sovereign,  but  with  all  persons  of  whatever 
nationality  or  of  whatever  allegiance  residing  on  enemy  territory 
or  on  territory  in  enemy  occupation.  This  territorial,  instead  of 
personal,  principle  has  been  extended  so  far  as  to  exclude  terri- 
tory which  had  been  taken  by  the  allied  forces  from  the  enemy, 
while  on  the  other  hand,  "enemy  territory"  includes,  e.  g. 
those  parts  of  Belgium  which  are  in  German  occupation.  The 
original  proclamation  as  to  trading  with  the  enemy  issued  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  war  reminded  British  subjects  and  residents 
of  the  British  empire  of  their  duty  not  to  trade  with  the  enemy. 
It  has  been  followed  by  Trading  with  the  Enemy  Amendment 
Acts,  1914,  1915,  1916.  Those  acts  not  only  defined  and 
extended  the  duties  of  residents  of  Great  Britain  not  to  trade 
with  the  enemy,  but  they  also  made  provision  for  the  admin- 
istration of  enemy  property  in  the  United  Kingdom.  The  policy 
of  the  British  government  has  been  not  to  interfere  with  the 
property  of  alien  enemies  resident  in  Great  Britain,  but  to  place 
in  the  hands  of  a  custodian  property  of  persons  residing  or  carry- 
ing on  business  on  enemy  territory.  In  1916,  however,  a  statute 
authorized  the  winding  up  of  businesses  carried  on  for,  or  under 
the  control  of,  enemy  subjects.  Enemy  banks  which  had  branches 
in  England,  for  instance  the  German  Bank,  the  Dresden  Bank,  etc., 
were  given  permission  to  carry  on  their  business  only  in  so  far  as 
that  was  necessary  to  complete  transactions  entered  into  before  the 
war  and  to  fulfill  obligations  toward  British  subjects  and  neutrals. 
Later  on,  the  principle  of  forbidding  commercial  intercourse  with 
the  enemy  was  extended  to  intercourse  with  firms  residing  in 
neutral  countries  but  being  really  enemy  firms  or  transacting  busi- 
ness with,  or  acting  as  agents  of,  firms  on  enemy  territory  (Trad- 
ing with  the  Enemy  (Extension  of  Powers)  Act,  1915.)   The  famous 


BRITISH  EMERGENCY  LEGISLATION  449 

"black  list"  was  but  a  list  of  firms  in  neutral  countries  with  which, 
because  of  their  enemy  nationality  or  association,  "all  persons  or 
bodies  of  persons  resident,  carrying  on  business,  or  being,  in  the 
United  Kingdom"  were  forbidden  to  transact  business. 

The  Registration  of  Business  Names  Act,  1916,  was  passed 
for  the  purpose  of  compelling  the  registration  of  firms  not  trad- 
ing under  the  names  of  their  partners,  or  of  men  not  trading 
under  their  own  names,  or  trading  under  changed  names.  Power 
was  given  to  the  proper  authorities  to  prohibit  the  use  of  the  word 
"British"  in  the  name  of  the  firm,  where  such  word  would  give 
a  wrong  impression  as  to  the  nationality  of  the  firm  or  the 
merchant.^^ 

Strengthening  the  Economic  Power  of  the  Country. 

The  modern  war  is  a  war  not  only  of  soldiers  but  also  of 
bankers.  It  was  realized  in  England  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
that  the  catastrophe  which  had  come  suddenly  would  result  in  an 
economic  upheaval.  Consequently,  steps  were  at  once  taken  to 
preserve  the  economic  balance  by  closing  the  banks  for  a  few 
days  and  by  passing  the  Postponement  of  Payments  Act,  1914, 
which  enabled  the  King  to  issue  proclamations  authorizing  the 
postponement  of  payment  of  bills  of  exchange,  or  of  any  negotiable 
instruments,  or  of  other  payments  in  pursuance  of  any  contract 
(the  postponement  authorized  by  the  several  proclamations  issued 
under  this  Act  terminated  on  November  4,  1914).  In  order  to 
strengthen  the  financial  position  of  the  empire,  it  was  also  con- 
sidered necessary  to  concentrate  gold  in  the  Bank  of  England  and 
to  issue  treasury  notes  for  ten  shillings  and  twenty  shillings  as 
well  as  to  make  postal  orders  legal  tender  for  a  time.  All  these 
steps,  with  the  exception  of  the  concentration  of  gold  and  the  intro- 
duction of  treasury  notes,  were  of  a  strictly  temporary  character 
and  hardly  survived  the  year  1914. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  soon  realized  that  the  war  would 
afifect  very  many  business  men  and  also  many  poor  men  or  men 
depending  on  scant  incomes  which  would  diminish  because  of  the 
turmoil.  The  Courts  (Emergency  Powers)  Act  of  August  31, 
1914,  provides  that  if  the  proper  court  is  of  opinion  that  time 
should   be   given   to   a  debtor   under  a   life   or  endowment  policy 


1^  See  a  note  by  Sir  Frederick  Pollock  in  the  Law  Quarterly  Re- 
view, April,  1917,  p.  115,  on  this  statute,  which  is  only  in  part  a  war 
measure. 


450  CALIFORNIA  LAW  REVIEW 

not  over  twenty-five  pounds,  the  premiums  of  which  are  payable 
at  not  longer  than  monthly  intervals,  and  have  been  paid  for  at 
least  two  years  immediately  preceding  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  and 
if  inability  to  pay  is  due  to  circumstances  arising  directly  or  indi- 
rectly out  of  the  present  war,  the  court  may,  in  its  absolute  discre- 
tion, after  considering  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  and  the 
position  of  all  the  parties,  stay  execution  or  defer  the  operation  of 
all  remedies  ordinarily  at  the  disposal  of  the  creditor,  for  such  a 
time  and  under  such  conditions  as  the  court  may  direct.  Similarly, 
where  a  bankruptcy  petition  has  been  presented  against  any  debtor 
and  the  debtor  proves  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  court  that  his 
inability  to  pay  is  due  to  circumstances  attributable  directly  or  indi- 
rectly to  the  present  war,  the  court  may  stay  the  proceedings  for 
such  time  and  subject  to  such  conditions  as  it  may  direct.  The 
same  Act  was  made  applicable  to  all  proceedings  for  the  recovery 
of  possession  of  small  tenements  as  if  they  were  in  all  cases  pro- 
ceedings for  the  payment  or  recovery  of  a  sum  of  money  due  and 
payable  on  account  of  rent.^- 

The  Increase  of  Rent  and  Mortgage  Interest  (War  Restric- 
tions) Act,  1915,  which  (like  the  act  just  mentioned)  is  to  be  in 
force  for  the  period  of  the  war  and  for  six  months  thereafter, 
and  applies  mainly  to  small  and  medium-sized  dwelling-houses, 
makes  irrecoverable  any  increase  in  rent  (except  where  otherwise  an 
injustice  would  follow,  e.  g.,  if  the  landlord  had  incurred  expendi- 
ture in  improvements;  in  this  latter  case,  the  increase  can  only 
amount  to  six  per  cent,  per  annum  on  the  amount  so  expended), 
or  in  interest  on  mortgages,  on  such  dwelling-houses,  and  as  long 
as  the  tenant  or  the  mortgagor  complies  with  the  agreement  in 
accordance  with  the  Act,  no  order  for  recovery  of  possession  or 
for  the  ejectment  of  the  tenant  can  be  obtained  and  no  mortgage 
may  be  called  in  except  under  special  circumstances  which  the 
court  has  to  take  into  consideration.  Rents  paid  by  the  tenant 
contrary  to  the  Act  (e.  g.,  if  the  landlord  refuses  otherwise  to 
renew  the  agreement)  are  recoverable  or  can  be  deducted.^" 

An  interesting  effort  to  save  not  only  individual  energ}^  but 
also  the  stocks  of  coal,  was  the  Summer  Time  Act,   1916,  under 


12  The  Courts  (Emergency  Powers)  (No.  2)  Act,  1916,  was  in- 
tended to  broaden  the  scope  of  the  Act  of  1914  and  prevent  some 
hardships.  As  to  the  Courts  (Emergency  Powers)  (Amendment)  Act, 
1916,    which    relates   to   officers    and   men,    see   above. 

13  The  details  of  the  Act  must  be  omitted  in  this  exposition. 


BRITISH  EMERGENCY  LEGISLATION  451 

which,  on  an  appointed  spring  day,  all  clocks  were  set  back  one 
hour,  and  were  advanced  again  one  hour  on  October  1.  This 
daylight  saving  measure  has  certainly  helped,  to  some  extent,  to 
promote  the  purposes  of  national  economy,  and  has  been  adopted 
again  in  the  current  year. 

The  progress  of  the  war  has  made  it  necessary  to  impose 
restrictions  on  the  consumption  of  food-stuffs.  One  of  the  first 
restrictions  was  contained  in  the  Output  of  Beer  (Restriction) 
Act,  1916,  amended  by  the  Output  of  Beer  (Restriction)  Amend- 
ment Act,  1916.  Under  those  acts  the  output  of  brewers  is  now 
limited,  it  seems,  to  70  per  cent,  of  their  previous  output,  thus  reduc- 
ing the  amount  of  foodstuffs  used  for  the  production  of  beer.  At 
the  end  of  1916  and  since  the  beginning  of  1917  rules  have  also 
been  laid  down  limiting  the  number  and  prices  of  meals  in  res- 
taurants and  otherwise  designed  to  prevent  waste. 

Ludwik  Ehrlich. 
University  of  California, 
Berkeley,  California. 


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